Newstalk audio on satellite very distorted.

Greenman

For over 2 weeks NT's audio on satellite is very distorted.:mad::mad::mad:

I've mailed them and got a reply saying they will look into it.

What is so difficult to fix?

How do they feed it to satellite?

Do they use satellite as a link?

All views welcome.

Regards JD in Belgium.

radiowaves

Which Newstalk? I thought there was only an Irish one

Greenman

radiowaves wrote: »

Which Newstalk? I thought there was only an Irish one

Newstalk 106/108 but they also transmit on satellite and as I'm in Belgium I find it handy to listen to them.:)

dxhound2005

Greenman wrote: »

For over 2 weeks NT's audio on satellite is very distorted.:mad::mad::mad:

I've mailed them and got a reply saying they will look into it.

What is so difficult to fix?

How do they feed it to satellite?

Do they use satellite as a link?

All views welcome.

Regards JD in Belgium.

Do you remember having the same problem in 2007?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055128179

I just had a listen and there is some distortion at times, which I would describe as phasing, other times as if someone is speaking too close to the mic. On FM here it is fine.

radiowaves

Greenman wrote: »

Newstalk 106/108 but they also transmit on satellite and as I'm in Belgium I find it handy to listen to them.:)

Oh right, so I suppose it is "Foreign Satellite" for you.

Greenman

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Do you remember having the same problem in 2007?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055128179

I just had a listen and there is some distortion at times, which I would describe as phasing, other times as if someone is speaking too close to the mic. On FM here it is fine.

Thanks for going to the trouble of listening.

Still in contact with NT.

Will keep you posted.

JD.

Greenman

Still on my mission the get the NT audio back to as it was over 6 weeks ago.

I wonder does anyone listen via hifi or on headphones to NT on satellite, if not could you give it a try and tell me how does it compare to RTE radio 1,BBC radio 4,4 extra,5.

Thanks in advance JD.

fat-tony

@Greenman
I've checked out the audio quality on Newstalk for you. The local FM audio quality is ok, as is the on-line feed - http://media.newstalk.ie/listen_live/popup
Interestingly, the satellite feed on 12633H is delayed even in relation to the on-line feed by about 5 or 6 seconds. So it may be that the uplink to the satellite is being taken from the on-line feed somehow and in the process they are distorting the audio. For now, it may be better (audio wise) to use the on-line service. I don't know if it is geo blocked, though.

edit - checked out the bit rate info on Newstalk. It is 192kbps - fine for talk radio and same as used for the other radio services from the Astra satellites. Our terrestrial digital radio only provides 128kbps for most radio services (except 160kbps for the classical music service Lyric).

Greenman

Fat-Tony thanks very much for that.

I wonder how many people listen via satellite.

I listen to alot of sat radio.

1 Rte Radio 1 FM Output.
2 NPR
3 Talksport
4 BBC Radio 4
5 Five Live
6 NT
7 BBC Radio 4 Extra
8 LBC
9 BBC WS
10 BBC Radio Ulster

Talksport is very much under modulated but the rest are fine except NT.
So bad is NT I've got into the habit of listening via smartphone. Might even invest in a high powered router but thats for another day.

Thanks again Tony.

All feedback welcome.

JD in Belgium.

cgarvey

This happens a lot. I'm a casual listener on satellite (versus local FM, or online), and more often than not it is dreadful. Right now, it's very bad but not as bad as it can get. Previously I've heard FM-like interference, but the way it sounds now (more like a compression issue or a clipping/volume issue) is how it sounds most of the time.

Greenman

NT on satellite is dreadful.


Any chance of contacting the station editor plus head of digital
https://www.newstalk.ie/footer_pages/contact.php I've contacted them a few times but nothing came of it. If you contact them let me know and I'll get back to them. Might even snail mail DOB and tell him the way his money is being wasted LOL.


Anyone else who is a NT listener input welcome.


JD.

rurs

It's equally horrendous on UPC, must be the same feed. It sounds like it's overloading at some point in the chain, and then it's been turned down later to "compensate". Very unprofessional really.

Greenman

rurs wrote: »

It's equally horrendous on UPC, must be the same feed. It sounds like it's overloading at some point in the chain, and then it's been turned down later to "compensate". Very unprofessional really.

So rurs could you please contact NT and tell them. The more the merrier. I would appreciate that and maybe they might wake up the fact.




Thanks in advance.

Greenman

Update.


Since 10 days ago the audio seems not bad. Its a little low but no distortion, so happy to be back to NT on satellite. :-)

byte

Hopefully, it'll stay that way.

Off topic, is that Speedtest right? :eek:

Greenman

byte wrote: »

Off topic, is that Speedtest right? :eek:

No byte it's a spoof :-)

dohouch

NT is gone bad again last 2 days

aphex™

Sounded bad on Virgin Media digital cable this morning, too.

byte

It's a bit ridiculous that they haven't this issue sorted out by now.

Greenman

Just checked it now and it's sounding sweet.


Here's a reply back from a mail I sent to NT in feb complaining about the audio.



Dear , Your email was passed onto me from the programming team in Newstalk. I¹ve looked into the issue you¹ve highlighted and there¹s noticeable clipping/distortion of the audio when I monitor Newstalk satellite feed on a high quality speaker systems. I believe this clipping is linked to the method we use to supply our satellite encoders. Currently we use a third party service provider to uplink to Astra 2G (28.2 Degrees East), this provider is located in Dublin but we have no direct connectivity to their building. To get around this issue we use a professional grade tuner to receive our broadcast from Three Rock mountain and relay this broadcast into the satellite encoder, this is where I think the issue is. The processing used in FM broadcasts is much harsher than required for satellite, the compression levels need to be tighter to cut through the car and road noise. Obviously this is not needed with satellite. We have a solutions that we started working on today, our plan is to install a link to our third party provider and supply a separately processed feed for sky. This will take a number of weeks to complete but hopefully will resolve the issue. Thank you once again for your email. Regards

byte

Well played, Greenman!

Good to see they've finally addressed the issue.

Aphex: has it improved on Virgin Media too?

dohouch

Am I right in feeling that it is better now than it ever was?
Soooper clear

Greenman

dohouch wrote: »

Am I right in feeling that it is better now than it ever was?
Soooper clear

Yes it is as of 11 am then I moved to SOR.


Hope it stays that way.

aphex™

You'd think they could sort out an uplink from Marconi House, a purpose built building for radio stations/media.

lertsnim

I am surprised they don't put their other channels on satellite.

twinklerunner

Greenman wrote: »

Just checked it now and it's sounding sweet.


Here's a reply back from a mail I sent to NT in feb complaining about the audio.



Dear , Your email was passed onto me from the programming team in Newstalk. I¹ve looked into the issue you¹ve highlighted and there¹s noticeable clipping/distortion of the audio when I monitor Newstalk satellite feed on a high quality speaker systems. I believe this clipping is linked to the method we use to supply our satellite encoders. Currently we use a third party service provider to uplink to Astra 2G (28.2 Degrees East), this provider is located in Dublin but we have no direct connectivity to their building. To get around this issue we use a professional grade tuner to receive our broadcast from Three Rock mountain and relay this broadcast into the satellite encoder, this is where I think the issue is. The processing used in FM broadcasts is much harsher than required for satellite, the compression levels need to be tighter to cut through the car and road noise. Obviously this is not needed with satellite. We have a solutions that we started working on today, our plan is to install a link to our third party provider and supply a separately processed feed for sky. This will take a number of weeks to complete but hopefully will resolve the issue. Thank you once again for your email. Regards

Thanks Greenman. Also, why are their FM broadcasts in mono? Tom Dunne's music at night sounds awful.

Greenman

Gone bad again.

Back to the drawing board. :-(

blue_blue

Just tuned in and it sounds fine to me. Still experiencing issues?

lertsnim

Not right here either.

Greenman

blue_blue wrote: »

Just tuned in and it sounds fine to me. Still experiencing issues?

Still bad to my ear, I listen via headphones.

Just got this back from NT so I do not think it's just me.

Thanks for your email.



We are aware of a reception issue in relation to satellite transmission and are working to have it repaired.



We hope to have it corrected today.


Thanks


Chris

Greenman

Seems to have improved.

I'll keep you posted.

JD.